Pancake day was fun! Around 75 children plus their adults braved the cold weather to take part in the Family Pancake Olympics on the green in front of the Cathedral yesterday morning.
And for the Dean and Canons the morning Eucharist was followed by a pancake sprint which ended in much laughter - and the destruction of one or two pancakes!
Shrove Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and Sarah Brown, our Canon Missioner asks, What are you doing for Lent?
“After the excitement of pancakes the church enters a period of 40 days of reflection to remember Jesus’ 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry.
“Traditionally Christians have fasted or ‘given something up’- the idea being to give up the things that come between us and God and to come closer to him.
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“To be honest though, chocolate or twitter or red wine are usually not the real problem even though it can be tough to go without them. We have yet to hear anyone declare that they are giving up hitting their wife or watching porn or lying or having road rage or pinching stationery from work so just giving up something random for the sake of it or to help lose weight might not be the spiritual discipline it is meant to be. Giving up chocolate may or may not bring you closer to God (in fact it makes some of us a bit more grumpy than usual, which is hardly the point!) so here’s an idea for something really meaningful you could do instead of or (if you are really determined) as well as giving something up."
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Why not Live Lent?
Live Lent is a great resource which you can receive by daily text, email or in booklet form. For each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day there is a short reading from St John’s gospel, a reflection and prayer, and an idea for a simple action that will enable the light of Jesus to shine through our everyday lives. We have some of the booklets here in the cathedral or you can sign up for the online or text resource at www.churchofengland.org/lent
It’s not just a cathedral initiative. Thousands of people all over the country will be doing it too. Why not join in?
Ash Wednesday Services
There will be a said Eucharist with the Imposition of Ashes at 11.00am today, and a sung Eucharist, with the St Peter's Singers, at 5.30pm this evening.